Wynter
by The Demons
Summary: In a lesser known section of Malice, a girl named Wynter makes a decision that will change her life.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Malice or any of its characters. They all belong to Chris Wooding. (I'm not even sure if they'll show up in this story, but who knows)**

**So here we are, my first Malice fanfic. **

**Please R&R!**

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CHAPTER ONE-

I don't like this world. There are too many cars and other pollutants, and all the snow scattered around the paved paths called sidewalks is dusted with a thin layer of dirt, so instead of the pure white from back home, it's a muddy brown. Not that it would be like it is back home even if it wasn't dirty. It's wet and slushy and far too easy to slip on.

At least, that's what it's like now, in winter. I glanced at Jordan, walking beside me, and back at Cat and Sam, behind us. I hope they don't notice when my eyes start to turn. Jordan had almost caught me once, and things haven't been right between any of us since then. Cat and Sam sense tension between Jordan and I, and they don't speak to us about ... well, _us_, as much as they used to.

Sorry, I'm probably confusing you. Let me start from the beginning. My name's Wynter, and I'm from Malice. A mostly unknown part of it, as the train tracks don't reach it, and not many people go there, but there are a few of us who were born there. Like me. I'm not sure what I am, exactly. A nymph, I suppose. A snow nymph. I hate summer, and I love winter. Heat makes me unhappy. Or essentially any temperature above zero degrees does. Some call me picky. Some think I'm just crazy. But if you knew ... you'd understand. So why don't I stop babbling and tell you.

I wake up in the morning and instantly I can tell that something is wrong. Charris, beside me, was not the one to wake me, as he usually is. Also, my skin itches. I glance at my arms and go even paler than I already am.

The thin layer of frost on my arms is melting. The Cube is heating up.

The Cube is what we who live here call this unknown section of Malice. We call it this because of those things people on Earth use to cool drinks. Ice cubes. Creative name, considering that it's just a cube of ice. A couple of Earth kids have found their way here, but nothing exciting ever goes on in the cube, unless you consider sitting in the cold and freezing your butt off exciting. Well, that's what the Earth kids do. We ... people ... from the Cube love the cold. We're so pale we seem white (and probably are), we no longer know our hair colour, it now seems white from frost (but it's actually not), and our eyes are all either white (ish) or icy blue. I know two others aside from myself. Snowflayk, and Ays (you pronounce it the same as ice; as you can probably tell, we're not very creative with names). Snowflayk is a year younger than me. She cuts her hair short to her jaw, and it's darker than most of ours, so we suspect it must be black, naturally. Hey eyes are so pale they seem white, but the edges of her irises are very dark. It's pretty, in a creepy way. Ays is one year older than me. He's got two years on Snow. He used to be very tan before he came here and decided he liked the cold. His eyes are cold, cold blue, like mine, but upon close inspection his are paler. He's tall, unlike Snow and I, and prefers to keep as much skin as possible covered. Snow and I wear thick muscle shirts and khaki capris. Our feet are clad in short, flexible boots, and we always wear a toque. The only cold-sensitive part of a snow nymph is their head. While all of my clothes are white, she prefers to wear a dark shade of grey. She finds it brings out the band around the edge of her irises, which she likes.

We share a cabin, the three of us. It's small, but it has four rooms, which is enough for us. We use three of the rooms to sleep in, and the fourth room is where we have our meals and sit together, as it's bigger than the other three. I'm in my bedroom right now, with a white squirrel, Charris, sitting on my shoulder as I watch the frost melt off my arms.

"Snow," I call, without taking my eyes off my arm. She hurries to the doorway and I look up. I hold my arms out to her. She looks at it and her eyes go wide, until you can see all around her irises.

"You too?" she asks, horrified. She holds out her arm. Water is dripping from her fingertips. She tends not to hold in the cold as well as I do.

"Ays!" we both yell at the same time. He hurries to the door.

"What is it?" he asks.

"The frost on our arms ..." I say.

"It's melting!" Snow finishes.

"To be honest, I have no idea what that feels like," Ays says. "But you girls have had frost on your arms from the moment I met you. If it's melting ..." He doesn't seem to want to think of what's happening.

A silver fox slips around him, rubbing against his legs like a cat. Lavender. He picks her up and lays her on his shoulders, her hind legs and tail hanging over one shoulder, her front legs and head on the other. She lifts her head and licks his cheek. He pets her absently. Charris chatters in my ear as if to say, _Why don't you do that for me?_

"Because you're a squirrel," I mutter to him, and he settles on his hind legs, offended. If I didn't know better I would swear he is crossing his tiny squirrel arms.

"What?" Ays says to me. I wave a hand dismissively and shake my head.

"Talking to Charris."

"Oh."

"So," Snowflayk says. "Are we gonna find out what's happening or what?"

"Right." I swing one leg out my window, then the other. Then I drop to the ground outside. Fluffy snow surrounds my feet and I smile. "Toss me my boots?" I call up to the window. One boot falls in the snow next to me, and I have to duck to avoid the other one hitting me in the head. I pick up one boot and pull it on, lacing it up. Then I go fetch the other boot and lace it up too. When I turn back to the window Ays and Snow are waiting. Then I hear a crack behind me. I look around at the dead grey and white trees around us. Who made that noise? Then something catches my eyes. I wander over to one of the white trees.

"Does this tree look ... kinda orange to you?" I ask, running my hand down the trunk.

Then it flickers. The orange on the trunk flickers! How ...? Then I get a horrible idea and turn to look behind me. Orange flickers on some of the trees, growing stronger as it gets closer to ... the source of the snapping noise. All of my muscles go slack as I realize what it is. My legs feel like jelly, and then collapse from under me. I lean against the trunk of the tree. Ays and Snow are by my side in seconds.

"What happened?" Ays asks frantically. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I say, in a quiet, quavering voice that suggests exactly the opposite.

"What is it, Wynter?" Snow asks, kneeling beside me. I don't want to say the word, but I point. She pales further. "No ..." she murmurs. Ays follows my finger.

"But ... who?" he asks, unable to understand why someone would do that. Naturally good-hearted people like him never understand those kinds of things. "How?"

I shake my head. I don't know, so I say nothing. Suddenly Snow is no longer by our side. She is running right towards the snapping sounds. "Snow!" Ays and I call at the same time, then glance at each other. He stands and offers me his hands. I take them and he helps me to my feet. Then we take off after Snow.

She is standing in a clearing when we reach her. Staring at the scene in front of her, tears in her eyes. I stop beside her and my vision blurs. I sense Ays standing beside me, but I hardly care. I only care about what I see, and the people I see doing it.

Chopping down our trees. And burning them.

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**So let me know what you think please!**

**Review please!**

**-The Demons**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: Yeah, I know they don't show up here, but I don't own Malice or any of its characters. They all belong to Chris Wooding. **

**So here's chapter two.** **This one's got a lot more action than the first one.** **Hope you like it.**

**R&R!**

* * *

CHAPTER TWO-

"No!" I yell, stepping forward. "Stop! _Stop!_"

There are two boys and a girl. One of the boys looks up at me and meets my eyes, seeing the tears. He frowns.

"Aren't you guys cold? This is helping," he says.

"Not us!" I yell. "If you're making a fire, make it somewhere else!" My voice chokes on a sob and I break down in a shuddering, crying heap in the snow. The boy rushes over, then looks up at Ays and Snow. They glare at him coldly. He shifts uncomfortably when he meets Snow's gaze. She gives a smirk of self-satisfaction.

"She's right, you know," Ays says, barely audible, but the quiet menace in his voice is unmistakable. "Take your fire and go."

The boy backs away. He glances at me. I have broken through the thin layer of ice on top of the snow and am completely hidden in a hole. "Should we get her out of there?" he asks. "Won't she freeze or something?"

Ays shakes his head. "You really don't know anything about snow nymphs, do you?" he says, as quietly as before. The boy goes pale.

"Cat! Sam! Put the fire out!" he calls back to the other two. They yell something back that I can't understand, but their voices are quizzical. "They're snow nymphs!" I hear him reply. Then I hear exclamations and sizzling as the blaze is extinguished. Cat and Sam run over to join the boy.

"We're so sorry!" I hear them exclaim, but Ays and Snow are ignoring them. They kneel into the snow and help me to my feet. I keep my back to the newcomers and walk away until I am shielded by a tree and they can't see me. I don't want to see them. I hear arguing between my friends and the newcomers. Then footsteps come walking over to me. I turn towards them, expecting to see Ays or Snow, but it's the boy. The first one who had come over to us.

"My name is Jordan," he says, holding out a hand to shake. I say nothing and stare at his hand until he pulls it away. Then I look up at his face. His lips are starting to turn blue and he is shivering. Unkempt black hair hangs in front of blue eyes, and a light tan indicates that he is new to these parts. I admit to myself that he is rather good looking, but I still hate him. He burned down my trees. I glare at him.

"Look, I'm sorry we burned down those trees," he says. "We didn't know."

I look at the ground, no longer able to look into his eyes. They are truly sad. He's not lying. But I still don't reply.

"If I hadn't heard you yell earlier I would wonder whether you could speak at all," he says, and I look up to a faint smile playing across his lips. "What's your name?" he asks.

"Why do you need to know?" I say, in a voice barely above a whisper. "We won't be meeting again." I force anger to my face. "I can make sure of that."

His face looks sad. "I didn't mean to make you hate me," he says quietly. "But I'm not used to this cold. It's ... unnatural. Don't tell me you never get too cold?"

"I'm afraid I'll have to tell you that," I say, even quieter than before. He shakes his head and indicates my arm.

"That isn't cold to you?" he asks. I look up at him, then at my arm.

The frost is coming back, spreading up my arm from my fingertips to my shoulder. My face breaks out in a delighted grin. He looks incredulous and shakes his head.

"Okay," he says. "Could you at least show us a way out of here?"

I give a barely perceptible nod and walk lightly over the snow. His heavily booted feet sink deep with every step as he follows me. Ays and Snow join me. Snow has been joined by a raven. It is a strange raven. It is black, like all ravens, but the tips of his flight feathers are white, and his eyes are blue. Snow calls him Payre. I don't know why.

"What are you doing?" she asks. "Why are you helping him?"

I don't look up. "He apologized," I say quietly. "He didn't know."

Ays rolls his eyes. "You always complain about me being too good-hearted. They just burned down part of your forest. And you're _helping_ them. If that's not too good-hearted, then I don't know what is."

"He didn't know," I say again, and quicken my pace, leaving them a good seven yards behind before I go back to normal. The boy, Jordan, catches up to me.

"What's wrong?" he asks gently. I say nothing. "Are you okay?" There is general concern in his voice. I hang my head and watch my feet as I walk. He puts a hand on my arm. "Hey," he says.

I feel the frost on my arm start to melt at his touch and I jerk away. He pulls back. I look at him. "Sorry," I say. "I can't help you." I grab a low branch beside me and swing up onto it, then scamper up the tree like a squirrel, Charris following me up. I jump to the next tree, and the next until our well camouflaged cabin emerges in the low branches of the tree next to me. I jump onto the roof and lie there as the gently falling snow settles on me. Ays and Snow run up to the cabin and rush inside, not noticing me, well camouflaged, on the roof.

Jordan looks at the cabin. Somehow, he sees me, even though my friends hadn't. He looks into my eyes. He knows I can see him, and that I know he sees me. His shoulders slump and he turns, beginning to walk away. His heavy winter jacket and snow pants turn him into a dark silhouette and then Cat and Sam join him. Cat touches his shoulder and he brushes her off, then looks back at our cabin. Our eyes meet one last time and I lift my head. I'm about to call after him but he shakes his head, says something to Sam and Cat, and turns away from me. I settle back onto the roof and fall asleep.

When I wake up, I'm back in my room, under my thin sheet, Charris nibbling my hair and chattering in my ear. Snow is leaning against a wall, feeding scraps of something to Payre. She looks upset, grumpy and angry. Oh, she sees I'm awake now. Add relieved to that list of emotions.

"Oh, Wynter," she says. "Are you okay? You've been sleeping for, what, three days now?" She turns to the door. "Ays, how long has Wynter been sleeping for?"

"Three days," I hear his muffled reply. "Why?"

"She's up!" Snow calls. Ays is by the door in an instant. Then he's next to me, opposite from Snow. They are both looking down on me, concerned.

"I'm fine, guys," I say, trying to sit up. "Seriously." My head hurts. I reach up under my toque and go cold. Well, colder than I already am.

"We know," Snowflayk says gently, pushing me back down. "The fire overheated your head. When you let the snow fall onto you when you were asleep on the roof, your temperature plummeted. You're cold, Wynter. For the first time."

"How do I fix it?" I ask, trembling. Ays and Snow look at one another.

"The thing is," Ays says gently and lays icy fingers on my arm, where Jordan had yesterday. Tears blurred my vision as I remembered. He burned down my forest and made me, for the first time ever, actually cold. Why do I oddly miss him? This is his fault!

"We don't know," Snowflayk says gently, brushing Ays's hand away when she sees my reaction. "I suppose we just keep you here until it goes back to normal."

"How long will that take?" I ask. My hand is shaking. Snow takes it and curls it into a fist.

"I don't know," she says. "But we'll find this Jordan character. We'll show him what he did. And when we're through, he'll think twice about messing with snow nymphs."

"No," I say, louder than I'd intended. I quiet my voice. "Don't hurt them," I say in a barely audible voice. "They didn't know. But they put the fire out as soon as they knew what we are."

"That doesn't excuse him from –" Snow starts angrily, but Ays reaches across and touches her shoulder.

"Wynter's right," he says gently. "They didn't know."

I nod and lay my head down. I unclench my fist. I couldn't be sure, but my knuckles might have been whiter than usual. And there were small marks from my fingernails in the palms of my hands. I relax and close my eyes. When they open again the sky is dark and my head no longer hurts. Has it gotten better that quickly?

I figure not, but I don't take my chances. I close my eyes and try to go back to sleep. I almost have when my door bursts open and Ays rushes in.

"Have you seen Snowflayk?" he asks.

"I've been asleep," I mutter. "No, I haven't seen Snow."

"She was muttering that boy's name angrily before she went to bed," he says in a worried tone. "Saying dark things I don't think you want to hear."

My eyes go wide and I sit up. "Do you think she went after him? Like she said she would?" I prop myself up on my elbows. Ays makes a nervous face.

"I hope not," he says. I pull myself back to the wall and lean against it. He comes and leans on the wall next to me. "I really didn't want her to do that, you know," he says. "I wasn't just trying to assure you. I really didn't think she would –"

"I know," I tell him, and lean my head against his shoulder. "I know you didn't. Naturally good-hearted people like you are always that way. Naturally mischievous people like Snow ... aren't." I sigh and his arm goes around my shoulders. I fall asleep that way.

Stupid sleep. I wish I'd been awake when she got back.

"Snow!" Is the first thing I hear when I wake up. I keep my eyes closed, though. "_Snow!_" It's Ays yelling. I hear scuffling and shouts, Snow cursing in snow nymph. But there is another voice. No, three other voices. I hope they aren't who I think they are. My eyes fly open and my heart sinks.

Jordan, Cat and Sam are on one side of the room, pressing themselves to the wall. Snow is on the opposite side of the room, blocking them from reaching the door. She is furiously pulling against Ays, who has pinned her arms behind her, holding her back from the three Earth kids. I stand up abruptly and try to lean against the wall behind me to absorb the scene ... and I almost topple out the window. I catch myself on the edge and pull myself back into the room. I march over and place myself between Snow and the Earth kids.

"Wynter?" she asks in a quizzical voice, temporarily abandoning her fight against Ays. He uses the opportunity to adjust his grip on her arms.

"Don't," I say. My head is pounding and my legs feel like jelly, but I refuse to fall. Snow is driven by a mad rage, and Ays won't be able to outlast her. He'll become tired, and she'll get to the Earth kids. I can't let that happen.

"Wynter," she says again, but her voice is angry. She moves forward to push me out of the way. Ays holds her steady.

"Don't even think about it," he says darkly. "She's barely standing as it is."

Snow steps back and looks at me. Her expression is a mix of disgust and confusion. She shakes her head and shrugs. "Why?" she asks me.

I look back at the three Earth kids. Cat and Sam flinch at my gaze and look at the ground. Jordan meets my eyes. His are hard. I wince, remembering how I'd abandoned him ... three, four days ago, maybe? I don't even know anymore. He notices and his eyes soften. I look back at Snow.

"They didn't know," I say quietly. I feel my head getting back to normal, and I risk a stretch. I regret it, but I try not to let it show. I stare hard at Snow. "If you don't leave them alone I'll leave. I'll take them where you'll never find them, and I might not come back."

But these people burned my forest! I shouldn't be helping them! I silently curse my natural kindheartedness.

Snow stares back at me. "Fine," she says. "Go, then."

"Wynter," Ays says. He looks crestfallen. Heartbroken. I suddenly don't want to leave. But then I look back at Snow, and any doubts I had about leaving disappear.

"I'm sorry, Ays," I say. He looks at me again. I don't meet his eyes. I meet Snow's. "Snow," I say. "They honestly didn't know. You can't punish them for not knowing."

"Watch me," she growls, and lunges forward, pulling free from Ays's grip.

"No!" he shouts as she barrels past me. I topple to the ground and bang my head. I almost fall unconscious, again, but I fight it away. My head throbs and I get the impression that I can't stand. Ays kneels beside me. "Are you alright?" he asks.

"I'm fine," I say, then I look to the Earth kids. Snow grabs Jordan's shirt and slams him against the wall. I hear the crack when his head hits. "No!" I yell, but she doesn't hear me. Payre is sitting by the door, squawking. I swear he is urging her on. Then a silver streak shoots across the room and wraps around her throat. Lavender. She squeezes until Snow is forced to let Jordan go, and keeps squeezing until she collapses to the ground, unconscious. Payre throws himself at Lavender, and they become a twisting shape on the ground. Feathers fly and I think I spot blood. Then a tiny white shape detaches itself from my shoulder and scampers onto Payre's head.

"Charris!" I call after him. "No!"

Charris gets Payre's attention, for sure. The raven turns and snaps at my squirrel. Charris dances out of the way and leads Payre towards the door. Then I notice that Ays is dragging Snow out of the room. I see him disappear into her room, across from mine. Charris goes in as well, and Payre follows. Ays slips out of the room, and starts to close the door. Charris scampers out before it clicks shut, raven and mistress trapped inside. Snow's is the only room in the house with no window.

Ays comes back in and kneels behind me. He takes my face in both hands, wiping away tears I didn't know I had shed with his thumbs. I don't say anything, and neither does he. Cat and Sam are kneeling beside Jordan, who had crumbled to the floor when he was released. Ays notices me looking and hugs me to him, forcing me to look away.

"Were you really going to leave?" he asks quietly. I nod. "But you're not going anywhere now, are you?" My shoulders slump. Ays pulls back slightly. "No!" he cries. "You have to stay, Wynter. You have to."

I hang my head. "I can't let them go to find their own way," I say. "They'll get lost in the Cube and you can bet Snow will find them."

"But ..." he starts to protest.

"You know I'm right," I say, and he hangs his head.

"I know," he whispers. "But ... It won't be the same without you."

"I'm sorry," I say, even quieter than him. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," he mumbles. He sounds miserable. "So will Snow, when she comes to her senses."

I lift his hanging head with one hand. He meets my eyes. I have no words for him, but he understands. I lean forward to kiss him on the cheek.

When I release him he hangs his head again. I go over to the tree Earth kids. I've got to stop calling them that. Cat and Sam watch me while I join them, kneeling beside Jordan. He looks at me groggily. That hit to the head must have hurt. He has a glazed look in his eyes and seems out of it.

He frowns at me, then recognition flares in his eyes. "Oh, you're that nymph girl," he says. I nod. He smiles. "You're pretty."

When a snow nymph blushes, our cheeks don't turn red. They go blue. But I'm sure Cat and Sam must understand because they laugh quietly.

"We have to go," I say to Jordan. He frowns.

"Why?" he asks. "It's comfy here."

I roll my eyes. "The only reason you think that the floor is comfortable is because Snow smashed your head against a wall."

He laughs. "There's no way snow did that," he says in a voice that suggests I'm being stupid. "Snow is just frozen water drops."

I push away my anger and get to my feet. I hold out a hand to him. He stares at it a moment before taking it and getting to his feet. Cat and Sam follow suit. I go to the window and swing my legs over the edge. Sam and Cat stare at me like I'm crazy.

"I ain't jumping out no window," Sam says with a heavy London accent. Cat nods her head. I roll my eyes at them and Jordan joins me at the window.

"It doesn't look too far," he says, and is about to jump out when I grab his arm.

"We're over twenty feet in the air," I warn him. "It'll hurt if you don't bend your knees when you land."

"Thanks," he says, and clumsily pushes himself out. He bends his knees when he lands, alright. He bends them when he topples forth onto his face. Cat and Sam are out the window in a flash, helping him to his feet. I'm about to go after them when Ays catches my arm.

"Wynter," he says. "I'm ... I just ..."

I smile and touch his cheek. "You're sweet," I say.

Since he's from Earth, his cheeks go red when he blushes. "I just ... It's ..." he stammers, trying to find the words to express himself. "Just ... try to come back." He reaches out a hand to touch my cheek and brushes my frosty hair behind my ear. I feel a burning sensation in my cheeks. His hand trails down my cheek to my neck and he rests it on my shoulder.

"I promise that I'll try," I say. "But I can guarantee nothing."

"Okay," he says. "Just ..."

"Stop that," I say, drifting my own hand down to his shoulder. We stare at each other for a moment before I turn to go.

"Wynter," he says, and when I turn to ask him what he wants he leans forward and kisses me. Right on the mouth. I only hesitate a moment before kissing him back. And we would have stayed that way for a while longer, had Cat not tossed a well-place snowball right at our faces. It hits us right where our mouths are joined, forcing us apart.

"Wynter!" Cat calls up. I look down at her. "You coming or not?"

"I'm coming," I call back to her, and look sadly at Ays. He shrugs and forces a smile.

"Good luck," he says.

"Thanks," I reply, before jumping nimbly to the ground. I straighten and look back at the window. Ays has tears in his eyes. I feel tears cloud my own. I raise a hand in farewell, and he returns the gesture. I don't want to look away but Cat taps my arm. The frost on my shoulder melts at her touch, and I spin to glare at her.

"We have to get going," she says. "Your sleepy friend won't stay sleepy much longer."

She's right. We have to go. I glance back to Ays reluctantly. He nods, and forces an encouraging smile. I start to walk away, looking back every few steps until the cabin is out of sight and I can't see Ays anymore. I lead Jordan, Cat and Sam to the edge of the forest, many miles from my cabin, and then I break down in a crying, quivering heap.

* * *

**Hope you liked that.**

**I'm not exactly sure where this story is going, but I'm enjoying writing it. **

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: Yeah, I know, ****_I know_**** they don't show up here, but I don't own Malice or any of its characters. They all belong to Chris Wooding. **

**So I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**R&R!**

* * *

CHAPTER THREE-

"Wynter," I hear a voice say. "Wynter, wake up."

I open my eyes and realize that I had indeed been sleeping. I see Jordan hovering over me. He seems to have recovered from his blow to his head, and he looks concerned. I touch my face. Tears are frozen there, like a mask. I break them off and toss them to the side. Jordan kneels down beside me.

"You alright?" he asks. I nod. He frowns. "You don't look alright."

"Im fine," I say, cursing my voice for quavering.

"No you're not," he decides, and sits next to me in the snow. I think it must be cold for him and am about to say as much when he shoots me a glance, warning me to keep my mouth shut. I can't win, so I let him sit. "Can I try something?" he asks after a pause, then adds, "You'll probably not like it."

"Okay," I say. I'm too miserable to care whether I like it or not. He reaches out tentatively and touches my shoulder. The frost spreads away from his finger as if a wave is pushing it back. My skin tingles where he touches it and I gasp. I reach up to my shoulder and pull his finger away.

"Sorry," he says. Then he shivers. I then realize how cold he must be, but I know next to nothing about warming up. I touch his shoulder gently. The frost on my fingertips fades and cold water seeps into his jacket. He looks at me. I look at him. He reaches up with his hand and takes mine off his shoulder. I assume that he is gently urging me not to do so and I lower my head. He lifts it with his hand, the one that isn't holding mine. Tears cloud my vision as I remember doing just that to Ays, not two days ago. I miss him already.

Jordan sees my tears and reaches out to comfort me, but them remembers that my frost will melt if he does. He looks frustrated and lets his arms drop to his sides. I reach out to him also, but hold myself back. If this is how it's going to be for the entire time we know each other, than it's going to be awful. I wonder if I should just turn on him and go back to Ays and Snowflayk. But I force the thought out of my mind. I lean against the tree behind me and close my eyes, frowning. I hear Jordan get up and pace nearby.

Cat and Sam come over to us. They both have brown hair and eyes. They are both exactly the same height, weight, and age. Twins. They have slightly arched eyebrows and a smile that is more of a sly twist of their lips, giving them a mischievous look that tells anyone within five feet to keep an eye on their belongings. Two of my crystal ornaments – gifts from Snowflayk – have already gone missing.

"Jordan," Cat says. "We should probably be on our way."

"Yeah," Sam says. One difference between them is that Cat talks a lot more than he does. "That awful nymph girl ain't gonna rest long before she's out for us."

"That _awful nymph girl _is Wynter's best friend," Jordan says defensively. "She has a name. Use it."

I reach out from my seat on the ground and touch his leg. He looks down at me. I shake my head. "They're right," I say, in a voice so quiet he has to kneel beside me to hear. "She will be out for you. You especially." I sit up so that we're eye to eye and put a hand on his shoulder. "We should be on our way."

He stand up and starts pacing again, leaving my hand hovering in the air. I close my eyes and hang my head, my eyes closed. My arm drops. Sam and Cat come to my side. Sam puts a hand on one shoulder, and Cat puts a hand on the other.

"Come on," they say gently. "Get up, now. We'll move faster that way."

I get up obediently, but I don't look at Jordan. I lead the trio out of the forest into Malice. And I freeze. But not from the cold. From the warmth. I am suddenly dripping wet as the frost that covers me melts all at once. My tears mix with the water and I run back into the forest. I hide behind a tree until the frost is back, and then I shiver uncontrollably until Jordan, Cat and Sam are all kneeling beside me, looking frantic.

"I'm fine," I say through chattering teeth. "I just ... I can't go out there. It's ... _warm_."

The three friends look at each other. "You can't hide us if you can't even go out there," Jordan says to me. I nod, new tears freezing to my face. He brushes them away, and the little ice droplets shatter when he flicks them. "Don't even think about crying," he says. I can't help it. I hug him. The boy who burned my trees is becoming my friend. I don't understand, but I find that as my frost melts ... I care less.

This boy could prove very, very dangerous.

I sit there, by that tree at the edge of the forest for a very long time, my arms wrapped around him. Eventually I pull away, horrified at myself, and dash up a tree. I refuse to come down for at least an hour, before he finally convinces me. He sighs and brushes away the new tears that have frozen to my face.

"You've got to stop crying so much," he says. His lips are most certainly blue, and his cheeks are red, small white dots forming in each one. Frostbite.

"And you've got to get out of here," I tell him. "You'll catch a cold, and you're getting frostbite. Please, get out of the Cube."

"But, you ..." He doesn't seem to want to leave. Which is frustrating, because I'm finding that I don't want him to leave either. If he had wanted to go it would have been far easier to convince myself that we aren't friends.

But, like it or not, we are, and I'm not really into abandoning my friends. And it would seem that neither is he. I chew my lip and shift my feet. I really don't know what to do. Should I go with him or not? The twins seem to be eager to get out, but he seems like he could wait a lifetime for my descision, and I hate him for it. If he tries to wait that long he'll freeze to death. And if I tell him that I'm not going ... I remember the look in his eyes the last time I abandoned him to fend for himself. I don't want him to look like that again.

I sigh and look longingly back into the forest. Then I turn back to him, steely determination in my eyes. "I'll come."

"But ..." he touches my arm and the frost melts at his fingertips. "You'll melt."

I look at him. "You wanted me to come. If you didn't you could've said so." I start to walk into the forest.

"No, wait!" He lunges forward and grabs my arm. I watch the frost melt, and am horrified to find that I don't care at all. "Please," he says. "Show us a way back home."

"Well, where's back home?" I ask, putting my hands on my hips. I notice how his breath clouds the air when he exhales. Mine doesn't. It's as icy as the air and wind.

"We ..." He hesitates, as though he realised something. "We want to go back to Earth," he finishes quietly. I find it harder to breathe, and my limbs freeze. I think I am trembling, but I can't tell. He brushes my arm and runs his hand down until it touches mine, and he squeezes my fingers gently. "Wynter?" he says quietly.

"Earth ..." I say. I can't go to Earth. I'll never be able to come back to the Cube if I go there. Unless, of course, it's winter there. "What's it like?"

He smiles. "You'd hate it," is all he says. "Even now. I mean, sure, there's snow everywhere and it hurts to breathe in, but ..." He sees my eyes go wide. "No ... Wynter it's nothing like this. I promise you'll hate it if you come."

I shake my head. "Just for a bit. Until I'm ready."

"Ready for what?" he asks, frowning. I look him up and down and raise an eyebrow.

"To come back," I say. He nods his understanding. I look past his shoulder at the rest of Malice outside. I don't know if I'm ready. But if he stays here much longer he'll catch hypothermia, and of course I'll feel responsible. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and step out of the Cube.

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**Well, here we go. chapter three. **

**I really have no idea where I'm going with this story...**

**Review please!**

**-The Demons. **


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: You know the drill by now. **

**So here's the fourth chapter. Hope you like it.**

**Remember to R&R!**

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CHAPTER FOUR-

We wait for me to dry up after all of my frost melts – again – and then we walk to the nearest train station, Murgle Ground. Along the way, Jordan produces four black tickets from his pocket. I shake my head.

"These'll do us no good," I say. "You need a white one to get out of here."

He nods. "We'll have to get some white ones, then," he says. I shake my head again.

"I know a way out," I say. "I've never used it before, but it's a shortcut back to Earth from Malice."

"How do you know where it goes if you've never used it?" Cat asks.

I look back at her. "Only one of my friends who has gone through there has come back. He told me about it. And now, for the second time, we'll be in different worlds." My hand absently drifts to my lips, and then drops back to my sides. Cat closes her mouth.

"Oh," Jordan says. "Is it ... Ays?" I nod. He puts a hand on my shoulder. "You'll see him again. You don't even have to come with us."

I shake my head. "Of course I have to." I look at him and he meets my eyes. "Like it or not, you're my friend, Jordan. And I don't abandon my friends."

"Even if they burn down your trees?" he asks. I punch him in the arm.

"Yes," I say, walking ahead. "Even then."

We arrive at the shortcut after a bit of walking. It's a hole in the side of a hill, behind a smashed mirror. The mirror is not necessary, but one of the Earth kids who had used this shortcut had been obsessed with Alice in Wonderland, a book from Earth, and had had the clever idea to make a "through the looking glass" reference. He had smashed a person-sized hole in the middle of the mirror and placed it in front of the hole. The shortcut is now simply known as The Looking Glass. I'm not sure if there's a mirror on the other side of the shortcut, but I suppose it doesn't matter.

"Here it is," I say dumbly, staring into the hole to see if I can catch a glimpse before going through. But all I see is a darkness that seems to be shifting, and it hurts my eyes so I turn away, wondering how it feels to go through.

Cat and Sam peek in, squinting, then reel away, rubbing their eyes. Jordan seems smart enough not to look in, so he stays back a safe distance. We stand in an awkward silence for a while, then Cat pipes up.

"So we just walk through, and we're home?"

I shrug. "That's the idea."

Cat and Sam glance at each other and shrug, then step forth towards The Looking Glass. Just before they disappear into the shifting darkness, they turn around and give us a suspicious look. "You _will_ come through after us, right?" Cat asks.

"'Course we will," Jordan says with a dismissive wave of his hand. I smile at the twins and they nod, then step through. The darkness seems to swallow them up and I shudder. Jordan notices and instinctively – at least I'm assuming it's instinctive – wraps an arm around my shoulders. "You sure you want to come with us?" he asks quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. I turn my head to look at him.

"Well I can't exactly stay behind."

"Yes you could." His voice is even quieter this time.

I give him a hard stare. "No."

He stares at me for a while, his expression unreadable, then suddenly throws his other arm around me as well, burying his face in my neck. I only hesitate a moment before hugging him back. We stand for a while, until Cat gets fed up and steps back through The Looking Glass.

"What is taking you guys so lo–" She stops talking when she sees us. "Oh. Hey, lovebirds, we gotta get going. Sam's waiting on the other side."

Jordan doesn't move, and so neither do I. Cat looks around, as though expecting to find snow somewhere so she can throw it at us. Eventually she just stomps up, grabs us each by a shoulder and pulls us apart. "Look, hate to ruin the moment," she says, even though it's obviously not true. "But we gotta get goin'. Sam's waitin' at the train station and the train comes in what, ten minutes? We gotta go."

Jordan and I look at each other, then blush and turn to the ground. "Alright," we both mumble and step towards The Looking Glass.

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**Hope you liked it. **

**Please review!**

**-The Demons**


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